Philippine Typhoon Haiyan death toll could reach thousands

Philippine officials, a day after Super Typhoon Haiyan bellowed through the Philippines, predicted that the death toll could reach 1,200 or more.

The typhoon unleashed its violent anger on a central city, which took thousands of lives, causing widespread destruction and leaving disorder and plundering in its wake.

According to the reports, the typhoon on Friday, left the city of Tacloban in ruins, as a storm rose as high as 13 feet engulfed its streets, in the city with a population of around 220,000 people, most of the houses had been damaged or completely destroyed.

The city administrator said in a statement, that More than 300 bodies have already been recovered, adding to which he said that the toll could reach 10,000 in Tacloban alone.

On Sunday, President Benigno S. Aquino III arrived in Tacloban to meet with some of the victims of the storm and to match up rescue and cleanup efforts.

President’s defense secretary, Voltaire Gazmin, described a chaotic scene there in the city. He said that “There is no power, no water, nothing,” and he also mentioned that “People are desperate. They’re looting.”

The Defense Department said, that after the Philippine government made a request, Chuck Hagel, the United States defense secretary, well-ordered the deployment of ships and aircraft to bring in emergency supplies and help in the search-and-rescue operations.

According to National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, the range of the damage and rising death toll threatened to make the typhoon the worst storm in Philippine history.

Until now, the deadliest storm to hit the Philippines was Tropical Storm Thelma, which flooded the town of Ormoc, on Leyte Island, on Nov. 5, 1991, and killed more than 5,000 people.